13 - Nebraska

Even though the school’s colors are scarlet and cream, at the University of Nebraska fans like to believe that real men wear black.

That’s what the starting defensive players wear during practice, with alternative jerseys awarded to the “Blackshirts" during a preseason ceremony.

“The thing could be a rag and you’d still look at it as a shrine," Chad Kelsay, a defensive end from 1995-98, once said.

Oh yeah, Nebraska has also had three Heisman Trophy winners (Johnny Rodgers, 1972; Mike Rozier, 1983; and Eric Crouch, 2001) and eight winners of the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top collegiate interior lineman.

In The Tuscaloosa News’ Best College Football Rankings, which will rate the Top 25 programs throughout the summer, Nebraska scored points in every category save one, grades. (Note: Only one school, yet to be revealed, was listed in all 10 categories.)

With the program in a bit of a transition phase under the direction of coach Bill Callahan, who replaced the program’s trademark I-formation option attack developed under Tom Osborne for the West Coast offense, the Cornhuskers had their best showing in the five all-time categories.

Nebraska was fifth in bowl appearances, sixth in the All-Time Associated Press Top 25 poll, tied for sixth in national titles, and seventh in coaching legacy.

Most recently, the Cornhuskers were 13th in players on NFL rosters, and 19th in attendance.

After Bob Devaney won back-to-back national championships in 1970 and 1971m he handpicked his successor, Osborne. He, in turn, initially struggled against Oklahoma, losing the first five rivalry games.

But Osborne eventually did more than follow the legend, but in many ways exceed him with an incredible 255-49-3 record from 1973-97.

The Cornhuskers recorded 15 10-win seasons under Osborne, and his worst season was 9-3-1 in 1976, when they “only" played in the Bluebonnet Bowl – a 27-24 victory against Texas Tech.

In its heyday, from 1994-97, Nebraska won three national championships, compiled a 49-2 record and had nine All-Americans. The Cornhuskers won two Outland Trophies, one Lombardi and a Johnny Unitas for best quarterback even though Nebraska has really never been known for its passing game -- The school yearbook once had a job description for the team’s quarterback: “run fast, to dodge and twist through a broken field." That was in 1907.

How’s this for dominance: In the 1990s, Nebraska lost just three home games. While a few programs have won 100 games in a decade, Nebraska is the only team in NCAA history to do it in consecutive decades.

Between Devaney and Osborne, who in 2000 won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Nebraska appeared in a record 35 consecutive bowl games (1969-2003), including 17 straight January bowl appearances (1981-1997).

To top it off, according computer analyst Jeff Sagarin, the best major college football team since 1956 was the 1995 Cornhuskers, led by quarterback Tommie Frazier, who won their regular-season games by an average of 38.7 points and destroyed Florida in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship, 62-24.

Second place was the 1971 team, which at 13-0 finished ahead of conference rivals No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 Colorado.

“We’re the only undefeated team," Devaney said at the time. “I can’t see how the Pope himself would vote for Notre Dame."

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at (205) 722-0196.

The Tuscaloosa News Top 25 Rankings are based on ten categories, five all-time, five from the 2005 season, with points awarded similar to the weekly Associated Press poll.

2005 categories: Final AP poll, recruiting, attendance, NFL players and academics.

All-time categories: Bowl appearances, all-time AP Top 25, national championships, College Football Hall of Fame inductees and coaching legacy.

The rankings thus far:

13. Nebraska

14. Auburn

15. LSU

16. Miami

17. Army

18. Texas A&M

19. UCLA

20. Navy

21. Pittsburgh

22. Stanford

23.Ole Miss

24. Clemson

25. Wisconsin